FAMILY IN A CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL MEDIA SOCIETY
By CPL NWAORGU EZE

Introduction:
In recent years, Channels of communication and relating with one another have increasingly gone out of numbers due to it’s diversity and designs. It has made life more simpler, easy and smooth especially in terms of achieving one’s need as fast as possible. It has equally created so many vacuum in among one another who are possibly families, friends and acquaintances in the wrong use it. But one thing very sacrosanct its for one to be knowledgeable of any invention and take good advantage of it for the betterment everyone at any point in time.

The existence of anybody begins from an institution called family. Family is everything. When you are rich, your family is there. When you are poor, they are there; at any situation, our various families are there as our fall back on because blood is thicker than water. How then would one make something (social media) that has no blood to be thicker than family. I will always say that, it becomes like having second gods when you have allowed what you can control to control and have charge of you and your love ones.

HOW DO YOU HANDLE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA:
We have sincerely had missed placement of priorities and virtually everyone family member is a victim because we all have access to smartphones and tablets and resemblances; just to measure up in the society. Everyone wants to be like everyone else in the society. No body wants to be left behind. We want to be carried along with, whether right or wrong. It is probably needful but the question is; is it necessary even though it is important to participate in the social platforms.

The fact is the wrong use of social media has torn apart husband and wife; parents and children. It has caused laziness and lousiness to be the order of the day in families. It has drastically killed the enviable and amicable love that exists in a family. It has as well as developed discrimination against the people who seen as responsible to take right decisions and direction that can ultimately enhance and engage children to live in the right morals. Social media has abused family values and caused the spread of the unauthorised and unacceptable cultures and information. It has diverted the mindset of many individuals from thinking right to wrong because it’s aid in exposure of all kinds situation.

Notwithstanding, the right path and value of the social media usage is possibly being discovered by few, who are in turn going through the social media and not just the social media going through them. This is simply put, few good number of people are making money through the social media site and platforms. People are getting education and more informed through these sites. However nobody forced to be social platforms.

The truth remains that many families are enjoying the negative impact; you are physically present but emotionally and mentally absent; you are financially present but morally and psychologically gone astray. You think respect but you don’t practice or show it. You think fast but you don’t act fast. You are faced and provided with tools for information implementation but you lack the sensitivity to engage them appropriately. You are presented with the world at large in your fingertips but you choose to see the end of the world in the wrong means and uses.

Looking and talking about social media, I have considered few out of the hundreds of them to be our family and societal headache in handling them as they are very simple and smooth to dive into at ease. Such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Tiktok, Istagram, to mention but a few; these mentioned easy and fast messengers have turned the present day society and the people living in it CRAZY. At any movement, sitting, gathering and stops, there is a discussion and display of social media style and skill.

In various family members, it’s either the man is in chat/conversation with a friend or family somewhere; or the woman is busy with a gist in her phone with another person far or near; or the both parents are minding their emotionalized conversation with different people and this making the home looks like home alone.

This singular act and practices have influenced the good morals and family cultures to upheavals, and nobody is taking retreat to curtail the excesses caused by the new social life in the society. As there is no curbing measures to prevent the crisis it has brought to families, same way have children followed suit. Children in a way to use the phone to watch cartoon and keep them from being disturbing either father or mother, we have equally introduced them into same practice unknowingly making them to know what the social media entails. As this continues to grow among family members, it attempts to kill the good family morals and cultural heritage.

SIMPLE AND CONSIDERABLE FACTORS TO BUILD ON SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE IN A FAMILY, IF NECESSARY:

1. Family comes first, others things secondary.
2. Blood/family is thicker than social media, don’t make social media to appear thicker than family.
3. If social media does not promote your career/business, don’t promote its usage in a family.
4. If the fun of this platform gradually develops family disintegration and unconcentration, terminate the platform and build your family to who they should represent (Family Image/name).
5. Conquer social media wrong usage. Virtually everyone is vulnerable to social media influences but you have to stand up for the family and her background standards.